Youths’ Visions for the Future Erasmus Project

Project Title

Youths’ Visions for the Future

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Environment and climate change; Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The present project is a joint venture between Buskerud Upper Secondary School in Åmot, Norway (BUVS) and Otto-Hahn Gymnasium in Gifhorn, Germany. It involves 15-20 students and two teachers from each school.

Our project has been given the name “Youths’ Visions for the Future”, which is arguably a very wide description. The idea is to allow students to select from a menu of subtopics, thus showing a certain degree of independence. The subtopics are:

Cultural heritage: The influence of English is said to be growing, above all among the younger generation. We invite our participants to explore and compare how English influences our native language. To what extent do Norwegian and German teens use English words and phrases in their everyday communication? What do they think of the influx of English jargon in a variety of communication channels, such as SMS, blogs, vlogs, commercials, etc? Do teens see this as deterioration or enrichment of their own language – or neither? Are there generation differences? Regional differences?

Environment: How do Norwegian and German teens see the future with regard to climate change? Explore and compare environmental awareness, concerns and measures in Norway and Germany, in private homes, at school and beyond. How about sustainable living, renewable energy sources, recycling, the consumer society? What about our increasingly multicultural societies; how do they see themselves contributing to a peaceful, inclusive and prosperous society?

Digital competence: How do today’s teens cope with an increasingly digital world? We invite them to explore and compare Norwegian and German teens’ use of digital communication, social media, awareness of dangers. How does social media affect teens’ ideas, ideals, values? How do they regard influencers, the seemingly ever-present desire for instant gratification, entertainment? Do they trust their Internet source?

Our project will have a preparatory period involving various research and study at home. There will be regular Skype or FaceTime sessions with Norwegian and German students. And above all, there will be exchanges where students spend a week in Germany in March and in Norway in May 2020. There will be field studies and various workshops where partner students discuss their findings, before presenting them to other students or publishing them in various media. In order to ensure a genuine first-hand experience, guest students will be living with their host students’ families.

We hope to enable our students to extend their insight and expand their perspective, with a view to what the future holds — and how they can shape it.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 29170 Eur

Project Coordinator

Buskerud videregående skole & Country: NO

Project Partners

• Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium Gifhorn